Abstract

Skeletal remains from a burial in New South Wales exhibit evidence of fatal
trauma, of a kind normally indicative of sharp metal weapons, yet the burial
dates to the mid thirteenth century—600 years before European settlers
reached the area. Could sharp-edged wooden weapons from traditional
Aboriginal culture inflict injuries similar to those resulting from later,
metal blades? Analysis indicates that the wooden weapons known as
‘Lil-lils’ and the fighting boomerangs
(‘Wonna’) both have blades that could fit within the
dimensions of the major trauma and are capable of having caused the fatal
wounds.

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